Reference signaling scheme using compressed feedforward codebooks for multi-user, multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) systems

Abstract

A multi-user multiple input multiple output (MIMO) downlink beamforming system with limited feed forward (200) is provided to enable precoding matrix information to be efficiently provided to a subset of user equipment devices (201.i), where zero-forcing transmit beamformers (wi) are computed at the base station (210) and assembled into a precoding matrix (W). The precoding matrix is encoded using a compact reference signal codebook (225, 207.i) for forward link signaling, either by sending bits indicating the index of the transmission matrix used, or by transmitting one or more precoded pilots or reference signals wherein the pilot signals are precoded using vectors uniquely representative of the transmission matrix used which includes candidate reference signal matrices which meet a predetermined condition number requirement, such as a condition number threshold.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention is directed in general to the field of information processing. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a system and method for communicating reference signal information in wireless multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication systems.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Wireless communication systems transmit and receive signals within a designated electromagnetic frequency spectrum, but the capacity of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum is limited. As the demand for wireless communication systems continues to expand, there are increasing challenges to improve spectrum usage efficiency. To improve the communication capacity of the systems while reducing the sensitivity of the systems to noise and interference and limiting the power of the transmissions, a number of wireless communication techniques have been proposed, such as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), which ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a system and method for improving spectrum usage efficiency in wireless communication systems. More specifically, it is about a system and method for communicating reference signal information in wireless multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication systems. The invention proposes a solution to improve the efficiency of the communication system by using a combination of transmit beamforming and spatial division multiple access (SDMA) techniques. The invention can be applied to both base stations and subscriber stations, and can be used in various wireless communication systems, such as cellular telephones, wireless equipped computer systems, and wireless personal digital assistants. The technical effects of the invention include improved signal quality, reduced interference, and increased spectrum usage efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

Wireless communication systems transmit and receive signals within a designated electromagnetic frequency spectrum, but the capacity of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum is limited.

As the demand for wireless communication systems continues to expand, there are increasing challenges to improve spectrum usage efficiency.

However, it is difficult to accurately measure the channel information or associated channel characteristics (such as SINR or channel quality information (CQI)) for a particular receiver when the communication status of other receivers in the vicinity is not known.

In an SDMA system, this results from the fact that signal information being sent to other receivers can appear as interference or noise at the intended receiver 102.i, though the receiver can not be expected to have this knowledge when the channel characteristics are being measured.

However, the signaling overhead associated with feeding forward the preceding matrix information to each receiver station can be quite large, especially when the precoding matrix information can be arbitrarily computed as a function of the channel vector feedback information from each receiver station.

Moreover, the limited feed forward resources require that any practical system be designed to have a low feed forward rate, while existing systems for feeding forward precoding matrix information can have unacceptably high feed forward data rates.

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